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2023 AAPA Award Recipients

The AAPA Awards Committee has announced the recipients of the 2023 Awards, which honors PAs and PA students who have served their patients, their communities, and the PA profession with great distinction. The awards are the highest recognition bestowed on members by the Academy.

Josanne K. Pagel
Josanne K. Pagel, M.Div., MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, EBS

Eugene A. Stead Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award

This award is AAPA’s most prestigious, and honors a lifetime of achievement that has had a broad and significant impact on the PA profession.

Josanne K. Pagel, M.Div., MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, EBS, is the 2023 recipient of the Eugene A. Stead Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the first early PAs in administration, Pagel has been a committed advocate for the profession and is well-known for advancing PA practice in her home state of Ohio. Read More

Mary K. Banahan
Mary K. Banahan, MS, PA-C

PA of the Year Award

This award honors a PA who, within the course of a one-year period, demonstrates exemplary service to the community; exemplifies the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible, quality healthcare to all; and furthers the image of the profession in a positive, meaningful way.

Mary K. Banahan, MS, PA-C, is the 2023 recipient of the PA of the Year Award. A PA educator and volunteer for the Postpartum Resource Center of NY, Banahan completed a grant-funded project to improve access to maternal mental health screening for Indigenous women. Read More

Deepthi Krishna
Deepthi Krishna

PA Student of the Year Award

This award honors a PA student who furthers the image of PAs and PA students; gives self-sacrificing time and effort in service to community; demonstrates leadership and professionalism; and exemplifies the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible, quality healthcare to all.

Deepthi Krishna is the 2023 recipient of the PA Student of the Year Award. A PA student at Canisius College PA Program, Krishna is the student director for the New York State Society of PAs and is a passionate advocate for improving PA practice laws, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. Read More

Timothy J. Camasta
Timothy J. Camasta, PA-C, DFAAPA

Military Service Award

This award recognizes a veteran or active duty PA who demonstrates exemplary healthcare service and exemplifies the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible, quality healthcare to current members of the military, veterans, or a medically underserved community.

Timothy J. Camasta, PA-C, DFAAPA, is the 2023 recipient of the Military Service Award. Camasta has served in both the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy, and has been a PA for more than 30 years. For the last 16 years, he has worked directly with active duty and retired service members. Read More

Daytheon Sturges
Daytheon Sturges, PhD, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, CHES®

Diversity Award

This award recognizes a PA or PA group that serves as a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the PA profession and/or the patient population or community that they serve.

Daytheon Sturges, PhD, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, CHES®, is the 2023 recipient of the Diversity Award. Sturges has spent the last eight years focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion within the PA profession, and is the Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Mission Advancement Commission. Read More

Allie Thompson
Allie Thompson, PA-C

AAPA/PAEA Preceptor of the Year Award

This award honors a preceptor who demonstrates exemplary service in the clinical education of PA students as a mentor, role model, and instructor; and furthers the image of PAs by exemplifying the PA profession’s philosophy of providing accessible, quality healthcare.

Allie Thompson, PA-C, is the recipient of the Preceptor of the Year Award. Thompson is a PA in acute care/emergency general surgery who has precepted over 40 students since 2016, and assists annual with clinical skills prep courses for PA students. Read More

Roderick S. Hooker
Roderick S. Hooker, PhD, MBA, PA

Publishing Award

This award is granted to a PA who published, during the prior calendar year, a new clinical or research article expressing original and/or scientifically rigorous ideas substantiated by best practices, and contributing to the advancement of the PA profession.

Roderick S. Hooker, PhD, MBA, PA, is the recipient of the Publishing Award as the lead author of the paper, “Physician assistant/associate retirement intent: seeking the exit ramp,” which investigated the retirement patterns of PAs in the United States and was published in BMC Health Services Research. Read More

Colorado Mesa University PA Program
Colorado Mesa University PA Program

Outstanding Student Society

This award recognizes one student society for outstanding service to the profession in the areas of public education and advocacy; public service and outreach; promotion of diversity; and professional involvement.

This year’s recipient of the Outstanding Student Society Award is the Colorado Mesa University PA Program, whose members demonstrated their commitment to community service through a healthy eating cooking initiative, a syringe and needle pick-up, packing expired medical equipment, and more. Read More

Georgia Academy of Physician Assistants
Georgia Academy of Physician Assistants (GAPA)

CO Outreach and Advocacy

AAPA’s Outreach and Advocacy Awards are presented each year to recognize constituent organizations (COs) for their outstanding programs, projects and initiatives.

The recipient of the 2022 CO Outreach and Advocacy Award is the Georgia Academy of PAs (GAPA). GAPA developed and participated in a wide variety of projects, from a program to engage Pre-PAs to furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Read More